Have you ever checked what those strangely named ingredients are in your body care and beauty products?
Recently I came to realize that I have no idea what those ingredients are and I better find out instead of maintaining the silly attitude that if it is on a shelf in a shop, it must be a good enough product without any harmful effect. Yes I know, cigarette and alcohol have a harmful effect on the human body and yet you can buy these in any shopping center, even at little shop of the service station. That those are harmful is common knowledge, isn’t it? But just because we did not hear about the toxic ingredients that can be found in most shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body lotion, day cream and nigh cream, and cleansing clean and the list goes on, it does not mean that they aren’t harmful.
The following ingredient were all included in the anti-bacterial hand wash I used six months ago, and ironically it made skin on my hand dry and cracked:
Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidoproyl Betaine, Lactic Acid, Cocamide MEA, Fragrance, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Salicylate, Glycerin, Tetrasodium EDTA, Benzophenone-4, Poloxamer 124, Lime (Citrus Aurantifolia) Juice, Lime Oil, Cl 47005, Cl42090
What are these?
Sodium Laureth Sulfate is a surfactant and penetration enhancer. When it is used in combination with other chemicals, it can form nitrosamines, a deadly class of carcinogen.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a surfactant and foaming agent. According to Wikipedia, it was voted Allergen of the Year in 2004 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society.
Lactic Acid is a penetration enhancer.
Cocamide MEA is a hormone-disrupting chemical
Fragrance this one word covers nearly 4000 different ingredients. Most of these are synthetic and are cancer-causing.
Sodium Benzoate is a preservative that promotes cancer.
Tetrasodium EDTA is a surfactant and hormone-disrupter
Poloxamer 124 – surfactant
Sodium Salicylate or salicylic acid is a penetration enhancer.
Cl 47005 or acid yellow 3 is a cosmetic and food colorant
Cl 42090 or FD&C Blue No.1, Acid blue 9 is a colorant that is also an allergen
The beauty companies that uses these in their products will tell you that the amount they use is so small that it can not possibly hurt you. Only they forget, that other products can also includes these, and many little amount adds up to a lot.
I have learnt these from Samuel S. Epstein’s book: Toxic Beauty. It is a must read to everyone, who care about what goes into their body.
Learning about these ingredients made me rethink the meaning of the ‘best body care product’. For any beauty product to have a chance to get into this category, it must be absolutely toxins free and deliver the positive improvements it is designed to do.